


"I read your diary."

by Rainpath5466



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Fluff, Gen, POV First Person, POV Link (Legend of Zelda), Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:08:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21759979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainpath5466/pseuds/Rainpath5466
Summary: The days immediately following Ganon's defeat were somewhat awkward. This is a quiet moment between Link and Zelda that helped them become more comfortable with their new future, and in Link's case, his new self.
Relationships: Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	"I read your diary."

"I read your diary."

Despite the courage that helped me say those words, anxiety still writhed inside me about what her reaction would be. I stared into my fireplace to avoid her gaze.

"I know, I saw."

Ah.

Other than the comforting sounds of a warm fire, silence filled the air, as was wont to do around me. Usually I liked it, but with her? With Zelda? I wanted to talk to her, but words failed me. Thankfully she spoke up again.

"What did you think?"

Even with a prompt I still had trouble. "Critically?" I asked.

She laughed. I smiled, because I saw why she thought it was a joke, and found it funny myself. Even after my resurrection, and the ease I had found in speech after that, talking to Zelda was still difficult, especially when most of my memories of her were... fuzzy, and the clearer ones were of the time when we were at odds.

"Very good penmanship," I muttered, continuing the joke to stall for time.

"Thank you, good to know typing on the Sheikah Slate didn't affect my handwriting. Father feared it would be the case, you know..."

We still hadn't talked about his majesty King Rhoam. I was technically the last one to see him, but somehow he didn't give me any message for Zelda. Anything would have been nice. Zelda deserved the closure.

"I want to bare my soul to you, too," I said over my drumming heart.

Zelda blinked. "Hm?"

"You—ah..." It seemed like my tongue got itself caught in my throat. "—You wanted to bare your soul to me, those were the words you wrote."

"Oh! Yes, sorry, I last wrote in that diary one hundred years ago, so forgive my poor memory of it."

I just nodded. Of course. I didn't know why I assumed she had read it again over my shoulder when I gave in to temptation and peeked inside.

"When I wrote that," Zelda continued, "I remember feeling like it would be very difficult for you to bare your soul to me in return. I was surprised to see you speaking so freely to the people you met in this era. But I suppose that makes sense, since when we last spoke, you mentioned how your silence was due to your duties pressing in on you. I was happy for you. Your old life of pressure and risk was gone, and I watched you be reborn in more ways than in health, you became who you truly are."

She looked me in the eyes. I had trouble meeting them. "So if you don't mind starting with this, who are you now that your memories have returned? Are you the silent knight or the wild youth?"

I didn't know how to answer. I opened my mouth anyways, because I am nothing if not brave, almost to a foolhardy amount. Being foolhardy was something I definitely relearned in my days in this new Hyrule.

"I don't know," I admitted. "Most of my memories haven't returned. I still don't remember much before being your knight, and what I can remember is related mostly to the weight of knighthood, and this sword." I nudged the Master Sword's sheath with my foot. 

The whole thing, blade, sheath, and shoulder belt, laid on the floor, unceremoniously dropped. The Sheikah Slate can only transport one person at a time, so the two of us had to ride everywhere. After longer trips like our latest to my home in Hateno, I hadn't cared too much for delicacy. I supposed that was the new personality in me. New? Zelda called that the true me, so was the "wild youth" really a new me or the old me?

I realized I had been lost in my thoughts for too long when Zelda spoke up over them.

"So are you saying you remember more of your silent knight self?"

I nodded, then I said yes aloud. I wanted to keep the habit of using my voice. "I feel sometimes I'm retreating into the silent knight personality. I did so especially nearing and during the battle." I didn't need to specify, we both knew I meant the one where we sealed Calamity Ganon.

"I noticed. The more you remembered, too, the quieter you became."

"Because I remembered more of my duty..." I had more to say, but the words didn't come for a moment. "I felt guilty. I was ashamed of myself for dawdling in this world while you fought Calamity Ganon on your own."

Zelda smiled kindly. "You weren't dawdling, not that I can remember. Now if you had played hide and seek with every single korok, maybe then I would have said you dawdled."

The two of us chuckled at her joke, but inside I felt like I had already bothered to find too many. No one needed so much space to carry weapons and shields. And surely most of the people I assisted just for spare rupees could have waited until after I rescued Zelda. Most of what I did to find shrines, armor, and weapons I didn't feel too bad about, since they helped me prepare for the final fight. Of course, freeing the Divine Beasts satisfied the duty-oriented personality of the past, too.

"Please don't let your memories make you into the silent knight again," Zelda pleaded, to my surprise. "I much prefer you being yourself, for your sake. I admit, I also want to know the true you."

I thought back on my actions through my journey. Such as the time I cooked five bugs together and it turned out awful, but I ate it anyways and almost died. I once caught a fish with my bare teeth. I've also conned a man out of all his boots. If she saw me reading her diary, she saw me do all of that, too. It was the silent knight that saved her, so I couldn't imagine Zelda wanting to know such a strange "me". Yet she does. How?

Hmmm... Then again, she also once attempted to feed me a live frog...

I smiled at her, finally meeting her eyes with confidence.

"I want to know the true you, too."

**Author's Note:**

> Whoops, I wrote this about a month ago but I forgot to post it. I went down a rabbit hole of LoZ theory videos on Youtube and got inspired to write this. I'm a big fan of the mute/selectively mute Link headcanon, but I think in BoTW Link's case, having him more vocal after resurrection is a lot more interesting and fun to play with, especially in his dynamic with Zelda. It also reflects all the great writing in BoTW's answer options. It's been a bit since I've played, but I'm fairly certain you can't do anything to keep this kid from making sand seal puns if you talk to the seal rental lady, and it's incredible.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!


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